The Sprout

Issue 182 November 2023

The Sprout

The Newsletter for North Hinksey & Botley

Directo rs: Jan et Bartlam, Judi Bo lder, John Clement s,

Michae l Cockman, Louise Kunz eman n, Ag Ma cKeith

9, Sweetmans Road OX2 9BA 07706 606719 Deliveries@TheSprout.org.uk

welcome. Later contributions may have to be held over to the next issue.

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your door. Contact: Janet Bartlam: 01865 453111.

Now also available online at https://archive.thesprout.org.uk/

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information printed in this newsletter,

may occur and will do their best to correct them. This publication is not a vehicle of the

parish council, and parish councillors working with the Sprout do so in a personal capacity.

Opinions expressed are the opinions of the individual contributors.

All concerned in the production and delivery of The Sprout are unpaid volunteers.

From the Editor

Welcome to the November Sprout. The main news this month is from

Elms Road Surgery (pp 3 and 23). The changeover is complete, though

locums are still filling in for some doctors, and the PPG has reformed

itself in response to the new status quo. Crofts Court tenants’ co-

operative is up and running (p21), and the Food Hub is celebrating 15

your Christmas expenses! Recent events have included a critical mass

of children on bikes descending on the city, some of them from round

here (p 27), and a flood in Old Botley (p13). Signs of the times, both of

these! There have been changes to the Botley Flyer timetable (p27),

now reduced, but hopefully more reliable. Finally, you must be

wondering what those strange objects on the cover might be. They are

local – you can see them any time you go past the Co-op – but very

exotic! Turkish hazel nut cases!

Ag MacKeith

The practice phone number is 01865 240501 and the website is

19beaumontstreet.com. Patients requiring a face-to-face appointment can

choose which of the sites they wish to be seen at. Mondays are always very

busy, both on the telephone and in person, so we would ask that if you have

a routine matter to discuss and you feel it can wait, please call later in the

week.

In due course all patients will be allocated a ‘Usual GP’. This will aid

continuity of care, but patients are welcome to see whichever doctor they

choose and there is no obligation to see only the ‘usual GP’. However, due

to the delay in our new permanent doctors starting, this allocation cannot

sent in order of decreasing age by SMS and email. If you have neither mobile

phone nor email, we will telephone your landline in due course, alternatively

feel free to call us, or come in to reception to book.

We are grateful for your understanding as we get up and running, no doubt

there will be some teething problems but we are confident that things will run

smoothly and we are very much looking forward to establishing a high-quality

patient-centred NHS primary care service at the Elms Road Practice.

Dr Jayne Haynes (GP) and Kate King (Practice Manager)

The Oxford Food Hub, based in Curtis’s Yard, is celebrating its fifteenth

year serving the local community. Founders Robin Aiken and David

Cairns started collecting surplus food from one supermarket in a car and

taking it to five charities back in October 2008. Today, Oxford Food Hub

has two warehouses, six vans and 90 volunteers who collect and deliver

food to 200 charities and community groups across the county. In the last

year alone, they have saved 497 tonnes of food from landfill. This is

enough food to make more than a million meals.

The charity’s mission is both to reduce food waste and the associated

businesses are some of the problems encountered. We are trying to find

500 meters home.

By the time I reached the A34

flyover underpass it had

become apparent just how

much water must have come

down in the past few hours.

The sewer inspection

chamber at the intersection

with Westminster and West

Way was overwhelmed. The

not to protect me from the rain, but rather to hold at 90 degrees, and

shield me from the sheets of water that splashed up as the cars sped by

on their way out of town.

When I reached the corner of West Way and North Hinksey Lane I could

see where all that water was headed. In a downpour like this, the whole

of Elms Rise must drain into Old Botley, a cluster of houses behind

McDonalds that includes the one where we live. There is a natural dip

here, which was, by the time I arrived, already a small lake as deep as

my ankle boots. I had no choice but to wade through to get to the back

gate. To use the front door would have meant wading even deeper.

through the sides and under the step at the front door.

Thames Water had provided us with a number of floodgates when the

house was flooded quite

badly in 2007. In the five

years that I have lived here

we have had to use one or

two in a sudden downpour,

but to stem the tide this time

all three had to be engaged

before we felt we had the

Everyone round here has

floodgates, and we mainly

managed to get them up in time to prevent the worst. But our neighbours

those rare ones observing the 20mph speed limit, sent a fresh wave of

water sluicing over the threshold into their kitchen. And the friendly helper

wrestling the floodgate into position during the downpour was nearly run

over, as well as drenched. It was, as our four-year old triumphantly

declared, ‘a REAL EMERGENCY!’

By seven the rain was easing but the water was still rising, now a third of

the way up the floodgate. We wondered when it would stop. Out the back

water and all sat down to supper. By 8:30 the water was completely gone

– all of it. All that was left was a thick dark brown muddy sludge.

Now that’s what I call a flash flood!

Jemima Puddleduck

Botley Energy Challenge – Seacourt Hall Saturday 11th November

Energy prices remain high, and prospects are uncertain in the context of

international conflict, a weak economy and high interest rates. All this

adds to the urgency of cutting gas use, nationally and in our homes, which

is a vital part of getting to net zero CO

important technical change needed is the switch from gas boilers to heat

pumps. At the same time, it is more important than ever to insulate our

homes.

Sustainable Botley is holding a public event in Seacourt Hall from

Avoid problems with damp in your home

Many people are coping with the price squeeze by keeping the central

heating switched off until it’s really cold, and just heating one room. You

may be able to acclimatise to the cold, but in the long run damp and mould

will build up, especially at cold spots in your home, including timber

wall insulation is more expensive and complicated, but if you can do it,

you’ll see immediate benefits in improved comfort and prevention of

Until recent changes to the government’s net zero strategy, rented

properties were expected to achieve an EPC “C” rating for new lets from

2025, provided the changes involved weren’t too expensive. That would

have meant that lofts and cavity walls should be insulated, but higher cost

measures like solid wall insulation weren’t required. If you’re a good

landlord you will want your tenants to live in a warm, healthy home, and

it is in your own interest to insulate because you’re less likely to have to

pay out for problems caused by damp.

savings possible in typical Botley homes, based on surveys and detailed

analysis of several local houses. It includes a myth-busting section on

heat pumps. Do take a look at sustainablebotley.uk

If you’d like an energy survey of your home, or need a new Energy

Performance Certificate to apply for a grant, please do get in touch with

me at laurie@livingwitness.org.uk.

Open Doors/Energy Saving Homes

If you’re wondering about making improvements to your home, it can be

really helpful to see energy-saving measures in different kinds of houses

and to ask homeowners and occupants about their experience of having

Thermal Imaging

Infrared thermal imaging is a quick and easy way of seeing where energy

is leaking from a building. It reveals gaps in loft and wall insulation, cold

spots that might cause mould to form, and leaky spots where draughts

are getting in around doors and windows. If you’d like a thermal imaging

survey of your house this winter, please get in touch with me at

laurie@livingwitness.org.uk.

Laurie Michaelis, Sustainable Botley

Oxfordshire Community Land Trust (OCLT) has now completed their first

development. It comprises eight one-and-two-bedroom apartments off

the Eynsham Road near Pinnocks Way They are genuinely affordable

homes for local people.

Following careful selection, the tenants have now moved in, and the

Tenant Co-op is slowly getting underway. All residents are members of

the Co-op and have agreed who will take on the roles of Chair, Secretary,

and Treasurer. Alice Hemming from Co-ops UK is providing support. The

next meeting is scheduled for early October.

The support of local people (some of you reading this), has been critical

apartments is directly financed by the community through the share offer.

Another 25% is mortgage, and almost 50% comes from generous grants

from Vale of White Horse District Council and Future Oxfordshire

Partnership.

with its vision to create clusters of community-owned permanently

affordable homes in every village and neighbourhood across the county.

These homes would be for local people in housing need. The success of

Crofts Court and the share offer is all down to the hard work and

dedication of everyone involved, but it’s only a start.

If you’d like to see more Crofts Courts, there are several things that you

can do now:

us/ )

donate or sell us your asset off-market to build more permanently

Support Amnesty International’s Write for Rights 2023 Campaign

Every year, Janet Budd and Jane Buswell run a Write for Rights

campaign in December where they encourage us to write messages of

support to people around the world who have suffered injustice, and show

us how to support their campaigns for justice. They will have their

at St. Lawrence.

St. Paul Church at 7.30 on Saturday December 2nd. The programme will

include choral songs for Advent in the first half, and Haydn’s St. Nicholas

Mass in the second.

Tickets (including programme and after concert buffet) cost £12 or £15

on the door, and are available in advance from me at 07961 900670 or

cockman.caroline@gmail.com.

We welcome donations to help us continue. Please contact me if you

would like to donate.

Caroline Cockman

bereavement was recent or a long

time ago, this short service will give

you an opportunity to remember your

loved one and light a candle for them.

It has been arranged in association

with Oliver & James (formerly SR

Childs, Botley) Funeral Services

matter the weather! We really need Volunteers to keep the Club running

The team sets up from 6.30pm every Wednesday in term time at Louie

Memorial Pavilion, the session runs 7pm–9pm. We would love you to

come and join us! email botleyyouthclub@gmail.com.

back. Free tea and coffee will be available in the break, but you are also

welcome to bring your own drinks and snacks!

Fundraiser for HOEG

A large range of good quality second-hand clothes (children's, women's

and men's) are available at bargain prices from Josie Webber

(josieawebber@yahoo.com) in North Hinksey Village. They are being

sold in aid of the legal costs which will

be incurred at the Public Enquiry by

those seeking to improve the Oxford

evening with autumn puddings –

scrumptious good fun. We had an

interesting talk about keeping

Alpacas and using their wool for

felting, which we can try ourselves in

a workshop in November. Our craft

store will be outside the Seacourt

Bridge pub on Saturday 11th

November from 10am to 12.30pm. In

November we welcome our speaker

Watch out for our Christmas Fair on Saturday 25th November from 11–

many items of Christmas Presents. There are games and competitions

for all the family with lovely prizes to win. If you would like a stall, please

contact me on 01865 722998 very soon to secure a place. We hope to

County Councillor Judy Roberts will be holding her surgery on Saturday

4th November from 10 to 12pm. And on the same afternoon at 2pm, local

author Simon Mason will be interviewed by Ruth Cameron, with an

opportunity to buy signed copies of his books.

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